Reading Notes: West African Folktales
When I started reading this I really had no idea what to expect out of it. I knew that it was made a long time ago and I could tell that by the language and vocabulary used. You can tell that these stories were made to explain some of the natural stuff that happens in the world.
The very first story was a story about someone tricking a powerful person so that they could be the powerful person instead. The main character had to use a lot of trickery to find ways to accomplish all the tasks that were given to them. In the end he did accomplish them all and tricked the powerful man.
Most of the stories also talk about how Anansi was a really greedy person and because of that he would thrive in the beginning but by the end of the story he would end up losing everything. The story Thunder and Anansi was the perfect example for this. It started by Anansi trying to get food for his family but then is given a pot that will make meals for him. He starts to use the pot for himself and then thinks to share with his family but gets scared that it will run out of its power so only uses it for himself. At the end of the story Anansi's wife uses the pot for the entire village and it melts which proves Anansis point. When he tries to get another pot he gets a stick that hits him for being so selfish.
You can tell by reading all these stories that food was a really big problem for the people writing the stories because most of them are about how food is scarce but you should be giving with it. There is a lot of wisdom with all the people in the stories except for Anansi and the spider.
West African Folktales
The very first story was a story about someone tricking a powerful person so that they could be the powerful person instead. The main character had to use a lot of trickery to find ways to accomplish all the tasks that were given to them. In the end he did accomplish them all and tricked the powerful man.
Most of the stories also talk about how Anansi was a really greedy person and because of that he would thrive in the beginning but by the end of the story he would end up losing everything. The story Thunder and Anansi was the perfect example for this. It started by Anansi trying to get food for his family but then is given a pot that will make meals for him. He starts to use the pot for himself and then thinks to share with his family but gets scared that it will run out of its power so only uses it for himself. At the end of the story Anansi's wife uses the pot for the entire village and it melts which proves Anansis point. When he tries to get another pot he gets a stick that hits him for being so selfish.
You can tell by reading all these stories that food was a really big problem for the people writing the stories because most of them are about how food is scarce but you should be giving with it. There is a lot of wisdom with all the people in the stories except for Anansi and the spider.
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| Spider, Source |
West African Folktales
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